Bob was an outstanding multi-sport athlete of
his day, excelling in both baseball and ice hockey. He played
baseball from freshman through junior year, and was an all-state
first team shortstop all three seasons. As a freshman, he won
the starting job at short for the Green Mountain Conference
championship team of 1939-40, joining Hall of Famers John 'Pro'
Herbert ‘40, Jules Pequignot ‘42, and Luke Steffens
‘40. He was third on the team in hitting that season,
batting .326 with a team-high 10 rbi's. He continued to tear
it up at the plate, hitting .349 as a sophomore, and .362 as a
junior. He played professionally for Pinky Ryan's Newport
Frontiers in the old Twin-State League in the summers, and also
played for the high-powered Claremont Pilots of the great old
Northern League.

As talented as he was on the diamond, he was probably a better
hockey player! Coming out of Boston College High School, he
was invited to try out for the Boston Bruins a few weeks before
entering SMC. He passed on a minor league contract, feeling
that his education was more important. He played hockey all
four years at SMC, serving as team captain as a sophomore, and then, in a move
that made several New England newspapers, was named player/coach
for his junior and senior years! The team had winning records
in three of his four years (including both of the years he
coached), and beat UVM three out of four times! Despite being
a defenseman for the first three years of his career, he led the
team in scoring all four seasons, finishing with career totals of
51 goals and 34 assists for 85 points.

Before he could return to the Purple Knight baseball team for what
certainly would have been a standout senior season, he graduated
early (February, 1943) so that he could join the Air Force and
fight in World War II. He became a waist gunner (in the
turret located at the belly of the airplane) on a 10-man B-17
Superfortress, and made 31 successful bombing runs over
Europe. On the 32rd mission, August 18, 1944, his
bomber was shot down over France, and he parachuted safely behind
enemy lines. For more than a month, he worked his way back to
the Allied Forces side of the war through the French
Underground. Once back with US forces, he was decorated,
discharged stateside, and spent several months in a military
hospital healing from the wounds of his ordeal. According to
family members, there is a book being written that involves his
story, and he is honored on a memorial statue (located in France)
that pays tribute to the efforts of the French Underground.

After the War, Stickel built a successful sales career as a
manager with Montgomery Ward, and he and his family lived in
several locations around the country.